Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known as The Weekend, released a new album titled ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ on January 31. Throughout over a decade of creating music, The Weekend has accumulated over 120 million monthly listeners and countless chart-topping songs. He has become a dominant force in pop and R&B music and continues to prove himself as an innovative creator with his unique edgy tone and use of techno throughout his songs. ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ had been teased by Abel on social media for months, and his listeners highly anticipated the release. The album includes 22 tracks and collaborations with Lana Del Ray, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Justice, Giogrio Morodo, Annita, and Florence The Machine.
My favorite track on the album is the song “Timeless” featuring Playboi Carti. This song was released as a teaser of the album in September of 2024. It has accumulated over 500 million streams since its’ release and is the most streamed song from the album. I think Playboi Cartis’ rap sections contrast The Weekend’s vocals well and the song has a catchy beat and chorus.
The next best song in the album is “The Abyss” featuring Lana Del Ray. Lana makes softer, and more emotional alternative pop music. Lana and Abel released the infamous ‘Stargirl Interlude’ back in 2016, and that was extremely successful for them. “The Abyss” is one of the slower songs on the album but the chorus is groovy and I think it is some of the best vocals from Abel on the album. Lana and Abel don’t make similar music so I think it is really interesting how they are able to create music that blends so well together and incorporates aspects of both of their music styles.
My third top-ranked song from the album is “São Paulo” featuring Annita. This song was also released before the album, back in October 2024. This song is more upbeat and rhythmic than many of The Weekends songs and I think it is a nice energetic and fun addition to the album. I have never listened to Annitas’ music before, so this song was a good introduction to it, since I am a big fan of her background vocals. I also think it’s cool that there is a multi-lingual song in the album because that isn’t very common in mainstream pop and R&B.
Overall, I think the album was once again a great showing of The Weekends’ musical talent. I think the diversity of collaborations within the album is the most intriguing and admirable part of it, and I highly recommend giving it a listen!
